Former Karnataka chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader DV Sadananda Gowda announced his retirement from electoral politics at a press conference in Hassan on Wednesday, November 8. Gowda is the sitting Member of Parliament from the Bengaluru North constituency.
Making the announcement, Gowda said, “I’ve made the decision to step away from electoral politics. Over my 30-year political career, the party has generously afforded me opportunities. I’ve served as an MLA for 10 years, been an MP for 20 years, held the position of chief minister for a year, served as the state party president for over four years, and been a cabinet minister for seven years in the Narendra Modi government. If I were to seek more, it would be seen as selfish.”
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He further said that the BJP had given him everything and that he was the most prominent beneficiary after former CM BS Yediyurappa. The announcement about his retirement followed reports of him seeking clarification from the party leadership about whether he would be granted a ticket to contest in the 2024 general election.
Gowda assumed the role of chief minister of Karnataka when Yediyurappa resigned in 2011. In 2014, he briefly served as Union Minister for Railways and subsequently held the positions of Union Minister for Law and Justice and Union Minister for Statistics and Program Implementation. He resigned from the Union Council of Ministers in July 2021.